Life is Great

Lemon Layer Cake with 7-Minute Frosting
Adapted barely from Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen, original recipe by Paula Deen, detailed lemon curd and 7-Minute Frosting recipes from Joy of Cooking.
Yield:
One 3-layer 9-inch cake OR
One 3-layer 8-inch cake OR
One 4-layer 8-inch cake OR
One 4-layer 6-inch cake OR
One 6-layer 6-inch cake OR
24 filled cupcakes

Note: I wrote this recipe as how I made it but essentially you can size it to your pans and cake layers as you wish. All the yields given are possible, only ensure your pans are at least 2-inches tall for each application to prevent overflow dramas. I would say though that if you, like me, have a love affair with homemade lemon curd; consider doubling the curd recipe to put more between (more?) layers and possibly around the cake like Deb's. Personally, if I had three 6-inch pans instead of only two, I would make a 6-layer cake just to stick more lemon curd in between.


1-2-3-4 Lemon Cake

Note: This classic cake gets its name from its proportion of ingredients - 1 cup butter and milk, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups of flour and 4 eggs, and from cupcakes to layers cakes, as a basic, white cake, it does not fail. I added lemon zest to make it a lemon cake. Though the idea of adding some fresh lemon juice to the milk to make it buttermilk did cross my mind, I dropped the idea for the fear of screwing up the cake. That was a mistake, at this recipe here clearly shows. The lemon juice would balance out the cake's sweetness and improve its texture further.

• 1 cup/2 sticks/8 ounces butter, at room temperature


• 2 cups castor sugar


• 4 eggs


• 3 cups sifted self-rising flour (I made my own)


• 1 cup milk


• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


• zest of 2 large lemons

Preheat oven to 350∞F. Prepare, grease and line cake pans or muffin tins according to your application of choice.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter until soft and fluffy. Add sugar gradually and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping down bowl at least once between the additions. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add lemon zest and vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed.

Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4-inches above counter, then dropping them flat onto the counter. Do this several times to release as much air bubbles as possible and to ensure you of a more level cake. (For my very tall cakes I did this about 10 times for each layer.) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Baking time varies according to your pan size, increasing as the diameter is reduced and height increased. For my two 6-inch round 2.5-inch tall cake pans, they took about 1 hour each. Start checking at 15 minutes if you are making cupcakes.)

Turn out cakes onto wire racks and cool completely before icing.


Lemon Curd

Note: I find this curd recipe just nice as it makes use of leftover egg yolks I gather from making Swiss Meringue Buttercream or pavlovas. Use larger lemons for a tangy curd - despite some comments on the recipe not being exact on the amount of lemon juice, I find this call for accuracy rather unnecessary. For the purpose of this cake, I made this curd thicker than usual - it was slightly wobbly after cooling to room temperature and sticky coming out of the fridge. This prevents it from running when sandwiched between cake layers. The texture will be just right when the assembled cake is served near or at room temperature. From the Joy of Cooking: This makes a sensation filling for sponge rolls or an Angel Food Cake. You can also marble it into a cheesecake.

• 8 egg yolks


• 1 1/2 cups sugar


• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter


• 3 lemons, zest grated and juiced

Place the ingredients in the double boiler over boiling water. Ensure that the top pan does not touch the water. Cook and continuously stir until mixture begins to gel or thicken, for about 15-20 minutes (yes, tough job but it will be worth it). Remove from heat and allow to cool. Cover and refrigerate it to thicken more.

The curd keeps, covered and refrigerated, for about 1 week.


Seven-Minute Frosting

Notes:

Recipe adjustment: I've modified this recipe to suit my appliances and the hot and humid tropical weather. The water was deliberately reduced and I think I could do with another tablespoon less. In this frosting, both the light corn syrup and cream of tartar are important stabilizers - so I recommend them to be included.

Method and time: Most handheld electric mixer would not be able to go on a slow enough speed before the egg white foam too quickly and the sugar is yet to be melted. Experiment with your mixer but the hand whisking method works well with much more control. Made on a hot and humid day (it's not like I have a choice here), my frosting only became fluffy after about 10-12 minutes of whisking and beating. So eyeball yours but have no fear, since this was tested to survive Singapore, I'm pretty sure you will be equally if not more successful.

Assembly: Seven-minute frosting is extremely temperamental, sensitive to heat, humidity and draft. Make the frosting the day you'd like to serve the cake. Bring cake and curd close to room temperature if previously chilled and assemble the layers and filling. As you prepare the frosting the assembled cake would come to room temperature so it will keep the frosting stable. Frost immediately after the frosting is prepared - it will crust and dry up after about 15-20 minutes, sooner in dry conditions.

• 3 tablespoons water (original recipe uses 5)


• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar


• 1 1/3 cups sugar


• 2 large eggs whites at room temperature


• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup


• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts or shredded sweetened dried coconut (optional)

With a balloon whisk, mix the first five ingredients together in a large, stainless-steel bowl. Set the bowl in a wide, deep skillet filled with about 1 inch of simmering water. Make sure the water level is at least as high as the depth of the egg whites in the bowl. Continue to whisk the whites until the mixture reaches 140∞F on an instant-read thermometer. Do not stop beating while the bowl is in the skillet, or the egg whites will be overcooked. If you cannot hold the thermometer stem in the egg whites while continuing to beat, remove the bowl from the skillet just to read the thermometer, then return the bowl to the skillet.

Once the temperature is reached and the sugar has melted (I test both using my fingers), remove from heat and continue to beat the mixture with a handheld or stand mixer for about 5 minutes on high speed. Add vanilla, beating on high speed for 2-3 more minutes to cool. Stir in coconut or nuts, if you are using them. Use this frosting the day it is made. Do not refrigerate before frosting.

Lemon Layer Cake Assembly: Prepare cake layers and split them if necessary. I refrigerate mine overnight and this made the cake more stable during assembly. Run hands along the side of the cake to remove excess crumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of the lemon curd filling to the cake board or pedestal. Place the cake layers on the pedestal, spreading filling between the layers. To avoid conflict between the lemon curd and the 7-minute frosting, I did not cover the cake with the curd but I believe if you make yours thick and spread it on the outside thinly as Deb did, it shouldn't run into the frosting. Also, the curd recipe yielded just enough for a nice 1/2-cm thick layer of filling between my tall cake layers (my preference). Frost top and sides of the cake with seven-minute frosting and toast lightly with a blowtorch if desired, taking care not to burn the tips of the billowed peaks.

Filled Cupcakes Assembly: With a melon baller or a small sharp knife, remove the center of each cupcake (and proceed to snack on them as you move along). Fill a piping bag attached with a cake filling or 1/2-cm plain tip nozzle with lemon curd already brought to room temperature. Ice with frosting on the tops and torch if desired.

Do ahead and storage: Lemon curd can be made up to 4 days in advance. Cake layers can be made ahead and refrigerated till required. Make frosting the day of. For best results, serve cake day of without returning it to the fridge after frosting. I made frosting on a hot and humid day and it rained cats and dogs after my cake was assembled. Assembled cake keeps, covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days, depending on how far ahead you prepare the lemon curd. The frosting will run the longer it is chilled, however the cake and curd flavors and texture will not be compromised.